Marketing is no longer a growth-only function. It is now a leadership function for engineering, construction, and infrastructure firms.
Marketing used to exist to win work.
But today, it carries equal responsibility for winning and keeping people.
Client attraction and retention still matter and they always will. But they now sit alongside an equally critical responsibility. Attracting and retaining the talent required to deliver the work.
For many Owners and Directors, this shift has happened quietly.
Pipelines are strong and demand is not the issue. People are.
Marketing is now carrying a 50/50 load:
- 50% focused on building confidence, credibility, and trust with clients
- 50% focused on building belief, pride, and commitment with current and future staff
This is why marketing is no longer a support function.
It is a senior leadership conversation.
We know these sectors well.
At Ask Marketing, we work inside remedial building, civil, and construction services businesses every day.
We partner with Owners and Directors of established, legacy firms, including:
- Kramer Asia Pacific - operating over 50 years, the leading independent multi-disciplinary engineering and architectural organisation in the Pacific.
- AT&L - Expert civil & structural engineering, project management, surveying and WSC with 18 years of history
- Diagnostech - Australia's Legacy Remedial Building Consultancy, operating for 24 years.
- JB Specialised Engineering - Operating for over 42 years, the #1 supplier of expansion joint technology in Australia and the Asia Pacific Region.
The insights shared below are drawn from first-hand experience, industry conversations, and interviews with sector leaders conducted in January 2026.
The 3 top industry challenges right now:
1. Attracting key staff to service workload
The volume of work has outpaced the supply of experienced people.
Winning tenders is not the hard part. Staffing them is.
Recruitment cycles are longer, hiring decisions feel riskier and the cost of a wrong hire is higher than ever.
2. Increased poaching across competitors
Senior engineers, project managers, and specialists are being approached constantly.
Not only by large firms. By peers. By former colleagues. By clients building internal capability.
The market is fluid and loyalty has become a bit fragile.
3. Senior team members starting their own firms
High workloads create confidence. Your good people are likely thinking:
- I have a lot of contacts
- I can choose my own projects
- I can control my own future
- I can build my own brand
This is not always driven by dissatisfaction. It is driven by opportunity.
The 3 P’s. And why Pay isnt one of them. Why salary is no longer the lever
Pay still matters. But it no longer decides.
The words we hear are repeatedly hearing from team members are:
“ Pride, Purpose & Progression”
Your staff want to believe in:
- The work they deliver
- The reputation of the business
- The direction of the leadership team
This creates a new reality. Marketing now sits alongside Directors, HR, Operations, and team leaders. It shapes belief. It reinforces confidence.
It helps people commit to the future of the business.
The 2 industry opportunities shaping 2026
1. Residential supply is accelerating
Housing shortages and government policy are driving residential development.
This demand pulls upstream into civil and enabling works, including:
- Water infrastructure
- Sewer and stormwater
- Roads and access
- Early-stage site preparation
Key growth corridors include:
- Western Sydney growth areas and southwest land releases
- Melbourne’s outer north and west transport-linked developments
- Canberra greenfield expansion and urban infill
- Southeast Queensland residential and infrastructure-led growth zones as well as major infrastructure required ahead of Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.
This work is not slowing.
The businesses that win consistently will be those buyers trust early.
2. Remedial work is becoming more regulated
Regulation continues to reshape the remedial sector.
Previously, the Design and Building Practitioners Act primarily applied to:
- Class 2 residential apartment buildings
This year, it extends to:
- Class 3 buildings
- Class 9c buildings
This includes:
- Boarding houses
- Aged care facilities
- Nursing homes
These assets are:
- Highly regulated
- Risk sensitive
- Operate in long-term managed environments
Demand for compliant remedial expertise will continue. So will scrutiny.
Relationships, education, authority, and credibility will determine who is invited to tender.
The 5 Marketing Moves Remedial, Civil and Construction Companies Need to Win in 2026
1. The Brand Project
Unite the entire business. Your brand is not your logo. It is the story your people tell when you are not in the room.
A clear Brand Project:
- Aligns leadership, delivery, and culture
- Shows up consistently internally and externally
- Builds confidence that signals authority and pride
The result:
- Reduced perceived risk for clients
- Stronger belief from staff
- Clear credibility in regulated environments
If your team cannot articulate who you are and why you matter, neither can the market.
2. Account-Based Marketing for New Client Attraction
Generic marketing no longer works.
The best way to think about account based marketing, is instead of top down marketing, this is bottom up.
Account-Based Marketing focuses on:
- Define your ideal customer profile - ideally through identifying which of your current “whale” clients you would love to replicate
- Identify ideal new customers: name, title, company, location
- Research each one; challenges, opportunities, connections and key people who influence your decision maker.
- Align sales and marketing and come up with a tailored approach to target
- Create personalised messaging
- Choose and activate channels of targeting each one
- Coordinate outreach and engagement
- Measure performance
This approach:
- Is highly personal and customised
- Shortens sales cycles
- Improves deal quality
- Positions you as a specialist, not a supplier
You stop chasing volume and start attracting the exact right fit.
3. Retention Marketing Program for Existing Clients
Your current clients are your strongest growth lever. They are the most important relationships. So often we hear clients tell us “we lost a potential new job with an existing client”. A job that they would have likely won had they picked up the phone, had that coffee, met more regularly to catch up.
Retention marketing is not newsletters.
It is:
- A committed cadence of touching base with existing clients
- Ensures ongoing visibility and a finger on the pulse of what is actually happening in their world
- Allows you to provide ongoing education that reinforces value
- Proof that you are evolving with your clients
- Reminds them how important they are to you.
Done well, it:
- Reduces churn
- Expands scope
- Strengthens long-term relationships
4. Employer Brand Attraction Program
Win talent before recruitment starts. The best people are watching before they apply.
Your employer brand should signal:
- Stability
- Quality work
- Strong leadership
This shows up through:
- Market presence
- Project storytelling
- Clear articulation of standards and values
The goal is simple. Make the right people want to work with you before a role exists.
5. Employer Brand Retention Program
Keep the people you cannot replace. Retention is driven by belief.
Your people need to feel:
- Confident in leadership
- Proud of the work
- Clear on where the business is heading
Consistent communication builds trust and commitment. Silence creates doubt.
Marketing plays a critical role in sustaining belief.
The leadership shift required
- Marketing is no longer optional.
- Marketing is no longer a junior function.
- Marketing is no longer tactical.
- Marketing is no longer secondary or supplementary to sales.
- Marketing is no longer a nice to have.
Marketing is now leadership discipline.
One that protects:
- Your pipeline
- Your people
- Your long-term value
If you are an Owner or Director in engineering, construction, remedial, or infrastructure services, and these pressures feel familiar, we should talk.
Let’s talk about how it could work for you.
With Ask Marketing you can hire a senior marketer, for a fraction of the cost of a full time resource.
Ask was founded by sisters Alexandra & Stephanie King in 2017.
Now with clients in Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane, B2B and Services Companies come to us for Australia’s Leading Fractional CMOs.
We place an Ask Marketer in your business to lead your marketing in a part-time capacity, ensuring you get the expertise of a marketing leader while keeping costs efficient and flexible.
You’re Not Buying a Service. You’re Hiring a Leader.
Click here to ask us how it could work for you.
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